ooh, the tree dahlias are out

Just a couple of days ago, I was looking at some tree dahila pictures on Flickr and thinking, oh ours won't be out for ages yet. At least another three weeks. So this morning, when I looked up from hanging out the washing, I got quite a surprise when I saw tree dahlias everywhere. Maybe I missed something yesterday or maybe they popped their buds overnight. They are a little early, last year they bloomed in early June. I know this because I wrote about it and it's a post consistently visited by the googlers (gardeners, I imagine). This afternoon I took some time out from my sewing, and braved the bees and a ladder to get up close.

Aren't they they most glorious plant? And they're big, taller than the house and ridiculously easy to grow. They have a pretty, if slightly triffid like, foliage during summer. Ideal for renter's gardens, for places where you want something big, quickly, or for the back of perrenial beds. You would think that they'd be a weed or a pest plant but they're not so rampant that you couldn't get rid of them if you wanted. Best of all, they bloom just as you realise that winter's really coming and that you're going to have to start wearing shoes, closing the house and turning the heater on.

They're likely to bloom for about a month, unless they get blown down by high winds. Then we'll cut the canes down. If anyone (in Australia) would like a cutting, let me know.

5 comments:

Funny, after our earlier conversation about tree dahlias I drove home and noticed one blooming way up amongst the gum treetops in our street!Yes please, I'd love a cutting of yours when they're finished.

Oh how I love Dahlias! Their big showy heads! My bed at the back fence is proving rather difficult - even the Lily Pilly's are struggling - it's not helping that the possums keep chewing off the new growth! I am going to check out your link to the Burkes Backyard site and locate some. I'm thinking if I put them between the Lily Pilly's I could have some cover while they're growing and keep or remove the Dahlia trees at that time (but knowing me I will probably keep the Dahlias as I am a sucker for flowers!)Thinking of Dahlias, did you see a Gardening Australia show devoted to the "Dahlia Men"? It was lovely. It detailed the obsessive love of Dahlias by a few old men - growing them in their backyards for shows etc. It was quirky and brilliant. I would love to watch it again!And you Thinking Blogger post was great. I have checked out your recipients and they are very interesting. Thinking mums - love 'em!

As always, your photos of just stunning.We don't have any tree dahlias in theneighbourhood but there's lots of dahlias here. Nutmeg, they're all grown by old men, many of them widowers, I think, as I never see a woman working with them. The flowers are bright, bright, bright, like over the top pompoms, but like pompoms they're a very controlled and defined shape. I like Janet's tree dahlias better - they look like wafting bits of silk.